A search for meaning

Gosh what’s this? Another blog in just over a week? Things are looking up.

Into the Deep

These last few days have been full of ups and downs, but we all have those, particularly this year, and it can be so tough to get through those darker days.

My way of dealing with them is to spend time in the garden, reading and enjoying art. When you think about it they all connect, from designing the layout of our gardens, what plants and colours go where, to reading a book which may transport us to another place, connecting us in some way to a time past or thoughts of the future.

The View at Dinner

There is a creative mind in all of us, and we make that decision how we may choose to nurture it.

I have found picking up the paintbrush is a natural progression for my own creative mind, as I continually explore connections between photography and painting.

For someone who has only been able to play at it, and not very well at that, I have spent so much time admiring many artists and wishing I could make beautiful works of art like Turner, or Monet for example, and the camera has up to a point given me the opportunity to explore ways of doing that through my photography.

Padley Gorge

The Online Foundation Course I’ve chosen to do for a year through the Open College of Arts is giving me time in which to explore different techniques in painting and their meanings through research and practical assignments which for me go hand in hand and also work alongside my photography.

“The sky is the source of light and it governs everything”

John Constable

I never stop learning.

Sunset Reflections

Skies over Peak District

Keeping my feet on the ground while my head is in the clouds.

I decided this morning that it was time I wrote a blog, it’s only taken 4 years since the last one, and that was full of promises to write more.

I have so much material, I reckon I could easily write a book but what would be the point of that, if I can’t even write a blog regularly? A book in literary form is unlikely to ever reach any kind of conclusion in my lifetime, but through my art and photography I really have no excuse, with two photo books on the go already.

…and then there’s the From my Window project.

2020 has been a very challenging and upsetting year so far, not just for the people of the UK but globally. It has been a very worrying and uncertain time for us all, as everyone has had to face this horrendous pandemic on top of many other existing serious world affairs, that in so many ways, it’s all been utterly incomprehensible.

When lockdown was first announced back in March (should’ve been a lot sooner) I needed to find my own way of dealing with a situation like no other, so I began taking a photograph of the sky from the bedroom window, at different times on waking each morning, in the hopes that each day would bring more positive news for the country. It didn’t, and consequently I seem to have amassed a rather large number of phone images.

The evening light seems to have become an extension to the project now as well with some truly stunning cloud formations of late, both from the back door facing east and the front door facing west.

During these turbulent times, my projects, to a certain extent, have helped me to keep focused, particularly when I’ve felt at my lowest, as well as anxious about the health and safety of my family and friends.

Stay safe and well.

Looking back to look forward...

It seems such a long time ago since I wrote a blog, as it doesn't come naturally, but I thought what better day to start writing again than on National Poetry Day.

Some say never look back, but I guess that depends on the context in which that could be taken as quite relevant, but when it comes to photography I find it an impossibility not to look back, whether that's for inspiration, memories or when I'm out in the field with my camera.

In a nutshell, my story began in 2007, after watching the ITV programme in which Wastwater in the Lake District was voted by the public as Britain's Favourite View...I wanted to see it for myself, but me being me I thought I'd try and capture it differently.

It was a busy time on my return, and having amassed hundreds of photographs on my little compact camera, I selected only a couple to show during Banks Mill Open Studios, where I had the opportunity of sharing my work with visitors, welcoming them into 4.11, my lovely studio at that time.

As a result of seeing my work at Open Studios, I was invited to exhibit at the Royal Derby Hospital as part of Northern Lights, the Air Arts Autumn/Winter exhibition 2008, and little did I know this was to be the beginning of a continuing relationship for me with the arts team and numerous members of staff through subsequent projects based at the hospital.

It also gave me the opportunity to collaborate with friend and poet Jo Bell, as she saw me working on the images of Wastwater for the hospital, and began reciting beautifully the words of one of her poems, I immediately knew it was perfect.

I've always been of the mind to let my work grow organically, which takes time and can be hard on the purse strings, but I believe that patience and having that continual creative passion has a way of bringing its own rewards.

Moving The Chair

"I Sit Where I Always Sit
And I am reminded of the Little Prince
Whose planet was so small
He pulled forward his chair
Several times an hour
To see a different sunset

Of course one can sit still
If wishing only for a single point of view

Never sit still be restless uncomfortable
Fidget Move the Chair" Jo Bell

© valerie dalling

All That Glitters Is Gold

I'm feeling a need to express how important it is for me to research the work of other artists, and how their art might influence my own practise as I develop.

I seem to use that term 'develop' an awful lot, but I love to learn and know that I will never stop. I'm of the belief that we all have goals whatever our levels of knowledge, capabilities or ambitions might be, but in order to achieve those goals we must be prepared to learn. As I've been enjoying my research, now and again I have come across an artist who has particularly inspired me, and I seem to know instinctively that they're going to help me along my creative path just that little bit further.

Specific influences I will save for another time, but I wanted to share a recent observation I've made on how important it has become for me to learn from professionals who I feel have been worth their weight in gold. We can all pick up our cameras and say we are photographers, and to a certain extent yes we are, but I think it is important to take stock now and again and value those who are masters in their field.

Investing time and money to learn from professionals whether in written format, lectures or out in the landscape in my opinion has been so important in my development, as I'm not only getting to know my camera now, but my visual skills are continuing to grow, and they come as a pair.

I do enjoy the unknown when I'm out in the landscape, particularly when I'm in the Peak District working on my project, but since I've been encouraged to study the weather, more and more I'm finding it's having such an impact on the way I'm looking and responding to the world around me.

While discovering new landscapes are inevitably down to us as individuals to take the time to explore and interpret in our own way, the knowledge and skilful insight through the expert guidance I've received, has been without doubt the best I could have ever hoped for.

Last year I was standing on Bamford Edge eagerly awaiting the commemorative flypast of Vera and Thumper the two Lancaster Bombers, knowing this was an opportunity for me to capture a special moment in history. I opened my bag revealing my lovely new camera and lenses and felt like that person who has all the gear but not a clue what to do with it. Fortunately I had my compact so I was still able to get my photograph.

My reason for finishing on this story, is that while it's not always about what camera or lens you have it's what you want to achieve through your photography, and just how much you are prepared to learn to reach your goals.